


Excuse My Tantrum

by caimani



Series: Stigmata [2]
Category: Waterparks (Band)
Genre: Arson, Bullying, Gen, High School, Hospitals, Serious Injuries, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 11:20:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caimani/pseuds/caimani
Summary: Jawn's bullies put him in the hospital. Awsten and Otto went out for vengeance.





	Excuse My Tantrum

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the Waterparks Creations Challenge in January. The theme was Entertainment and my prompt was TANTRUM. This is a prequel to The Stigmata (Boys Don't Cry Blood), but it's easier to start with the main fic and read this as a side story. More prequels will come later.

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

CRACK!

The impact of the sledgehammer against the windshield of the truck jarred Awsten’s arms. The head of the hammer bounced against the surface more than anything else. There was a clear impact, but barely any damage from all the force he’d put into it. Awsten tightened his grip and swung the hammer back again.

This time, the hammer smashed harder into the glass, creating a huge spiderweb of fractures from the impact site. Awsten’s eyes narrowed and he hefted the sledgehammer up again.

. x . x . x . x . x . x .

_“That dent’s just from a deer, dude, fucking chill,” Chris said, shoving Awsten back so hard he fell onto his ass on the ground. “Fucking paranoid.”_

_Awsten leapt back up. “A deer, huh? So if we test that and it’s got traces of human blood—”_

_Freddie grabbed Awsten before he could even reach Chris and shoved him away again. “Watch it, you little bitch. No one’s testing anything. He’s got a witness. I was with him, and it was a fucking deer.”_

_“Where’s the deer now?” Otto said, a short distance behind Awsten. “What road were you on?”_

_Chris snorted, but his mouth cracked with a smirk. “Oh the deer’s still alive.”_

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

Awsten was out of breath when he was finally satisfied with the remains of the windshield. It didn’t shatter like he had been hoping, but there was a gaping hole now, and the insides of the truck were littered with broken glass shards.

Shaking, he jumped down from the roof of the pickup to where Otto was standing beside the car. Otto flipped his knife closed, done with slashing the tires into ribbons. He picked his own sledgehammer off the ground.

“Wanna take out the mirror on the other side?” he said.

Awsten grinned. “Yeah.”

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

_They had the fucking counselor sit Otto and Awsten down in the little conference room together. Awsten was barely holding himself together. He was only in school that day so he could find Chris and… and do something._

_“In case you haven’t heard it yet—” Mrs. Fleming started._

_“Jawn’s in the hospital,” Otto said, his voice cold._

_They’d known since— well, since Jawn’s parents called them from the hospital late last night. Awsten hadn’t slept at all afterwards. He and Otto both wanted to stay with Jawn, but Jawn’s parents made him leave. They said they needed to rest. The doctors couldn’t predict when Jawn would wake up._

_Instead of resting, Awsten had burned._

_“This is going to be a hard time for you two,” Mrs. Fleming said. “I know you three are good friends. If you need to talk to anyone, please—”_

_“We’ll be okay.”_

_Mrs. Fleming went still. She folded her hands in front of her. “I know you boys are upset and angry. But it’s not a good idea to keep this all bottled up. If… if you need, you can stay in here for a while, where it’s quiet. Your teachers will understand if you’re not up for going to class—”_

_“No,” Awsten said, standing up from the conference table. “I think I want to be in class right now. I wanna… see some familiar faces.”_

_Mrs. Fleming still looked concerned but she let him and Otto go with only a few more reassurances that they could come and talk to her at any time._

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

The side mirrors came off easily. It was easy to smash dents in the side panels too, but Awsten was desperate for more damage. He tried smashing the windows, but like the windshield, they needed a lot more force to shatter.

Panting, he stepped back. He glanced across the car at Otto. Otto hefted his sledgehammer over his shoulder and nodded towards the front of the car.

“Lights?”

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

_“A hit and run,” Jawn’s mom said through choked tears. “Someone… someone hit my baby and… and just—”_

_Jawn’s dad hugged her close as she broke down into sobs. “We’re lucky someone found him so fast,” he said, swiping at his eyes. “He… god, I can’t believe this.”_

_Awsten’s vision blurred as he looked at the door of the ICU. He wasn’t going to be allowed inside until the doctors and nurses were done. He was scared of what he would see. His imagination had been running wild ever since he picked up the call from Jawn’s dad._

_Awsten looked away from the door and looked at Otto instead. Otto reached out and took Awsten’s hand, grasping it tightly._

_“We’ll be here for him,” he promises._

_Awsten nodded._

_Jawn would make it. He had to. A world without Jawn… just wasn’t right._

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

Awsten looked over the smashed and battered truck. It wasn’t enough. Nothing would be enough. Nothing would even come close to making up for the sight of Jawn lying on the hospital bed, wrapped up in bandages and casts and surrounded by machines that were working to keep him alive.

Nothing would make up for the doctor telling them in a gentle tone that, while Jawn might wake up soon, he might also be in a coma for a long time.

Nothing would make up for how Jawn’s parents fell apart while gently holding their son’s hands.

Nothing.

Awsten turned his back on the truck and started walking back towards Otto’s car.

“That’s it?” Otto said, following him after a moment of hesitation.

“No,” Awsten said. He opened the trunk and pulled out a five gallon gasoline can. “Not yet.”

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

_Jawn was extremely still as Chris passed. Awsten glared at him and Freddie, but both of them paid him no mind. Chris smacked Jawn’s head from behind, laughing when Jawn reached up to push his hair out of his eyes._

_Awsten tensed, not sure whether he should jump out of his seat and stand up for Jawn and definitely get his ass kicked or…_

_The opportunity to do anything was gone though. Jawn sighed and moved to the other side of the table, sitting between Awsten and Otto._

_“It’s not—” he started, right as Otto said “You should—”_

_“It’s not like they’re actually doing anything,” Jawn muttered, looking down at his tray of food._

_“I’m gonna kick their asses one day,” Awsten said. He looked over at where Chris and Freddie had gone, and couldn’t help the flinch when he saw them looking at them._

_Otto scoffed. “Yeah, you wouldn’t last a second. We just gotta stay away from them. We’re safer together.”_

_“And we all have the same classes,” Awsten said, brightening up. He was rewarded by a small smile from Jawn. “It’s gonna be fine. They’re graduating this year—”_

_“I bet they’re not—” Otto said._

_Awsten laughed, and Jawn joined in._

_“Yeah, you’re right,” he said. “Just another two months and they’ll be gone.”_

_“Hopefully far away from here,” Awsten said._

_Jawn nodded. “Hopefully.”_

. x . x . x . x . x . x . 

The flames stretched high into the sky. The clouds of smoke rolling off the carcass of the truck were thick, heavy, and black.

Awsten felt a little shaky watching the pickup burn. They would have to get rid of their clothes— they smelled like fire. Take longass showers. Or use those bath bombs Jawn had given Awsten as a joke gift for his birthday.

Otto’s car was far enough away that it’d be fine. They’d be fine.

If Chris could get away with hitting Jawn with his fucking truck and putting Jawn in the hospital, then Awsten and Otto could get away with burning Chris’s truck to ashes. There wasn’t anyone around; they had checked plenty of times. They could get rid of the evidence. Awsten had gotten away with burning plenty of things before, just nothing so big as a truck.

“We should leave,” Otto said. “Before someone sees the fire.”

“Yeah,” Awsten said. He picked up the empty can and carried it back to Otto’s car.


End file.
